Assassin
by Laurana Agarwaen
Summary: A girl has chosen the path of an assasin, and now there is no way out. It is the only thing that she knows and it is the only thing that she truly cares about. Listen and learn why she has chosen this path.
1. My Family

**Disclaimer: All characters, places, etc are the property of Tamora Pierce and Random House. (except for whatever character I decide to make up for myself) and no money is being made from this.**

**A/N:** I really dunno what I'm doing with this story, I'm just typing a random story on a whim, so if it's crap I am VERY sorry. I luv you all! **Edit:** Laurana here. Yes, I'm still the same person even though I changed my pen name slightly. Just fixing little typos and whatnot. Oh…and I decided to make the names more Tortallian-ish (if I can).

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Chapter 1 – My Family 

I am an assassin; that is what I do. I kill because that is all I know and killing is the only thing in this world other than George that hasn't betrayed me. So before you start judging me, listen to my story. Find out how I came to be where I am.

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My house didn't deserve to be called a house. It was more of a hut. There was barely any room in it to fit me and my five sisters, let alone enough room for my parents, my brother and the numerous animals that my oldest sister insisted in bringing home. There was barely enough money to feed my whole family, and more often than not I was the one to go hungry because I was the oldest. In spite of this, or possibly because of it, my family was so tight that of one person was insulted, everyone in the family took it personally. Don't think that we were a perfect family, because we most certainly were not.

Take this incident for example. When I was only seven and had just met George, my brother, who was only two days younger than me (we were supposed to be born on the same day, but something happened and my poor mother had to go through 72 hours of labor to have us) decided that George was trying to kidnap me and tackled him with all of his seven-year-old strength. Poor George was knocked over in the dirt and refused to speak to me for weeks because he was convinced that my brother was Chaos herself. I had decided then and there that I would marry George, even though he was eight to my seven and a year seemed like such a long time to one so little. I was furious at my brother and refused to talk to him. As a result, none of my friends (who were also his friends) would talk to me, and my sisters were too little to understand what was going on so they followed my brother's example because they were always convinced that he was smarter than me. This left me alone and without any company because my parents were never home long enough to realize that I was being so cruelly ostracized.

My mother used to tease me about my tomboyishness. She told me nobody would ever think a girl who was covered in mud was worth marrying. She told me that one day, a beautiful noble lady would walk by and announce that she wanted me as her holster because she had mistaken me for a boy. Mother explained to me that father would even forget I was a girl and tell me to work in the brick-laying room, and then where would I be? She constantly reminded me to be more lady-like or she might even sell me to the man who makes dumplings down the way.

None of these threats worked. Who wanted to be married anyway? The only person worth marrying was George, and he couldn't care less if I ran around Corus with not a stitch on. I didn't care if I became a holster, at least then I would be with horses; I had never touched a horse in my life and very much wanted one. As for the brick-laying, my father would never do something like that. The only thing that really scared me was the man who made dumplings down the way. I had never seen him, but had heard of him often, and what I had heard was not very encouraging. Whenever Mother used that threat, I would get cleaned up in a jiffy and try to be as ladylike as possible until she told me I had improved, and back into the mud and streets I would go till that threat was issued again.

My father thought I was the best thing that ever happened to him. I was the apple of his eye, and he didn't choose to hide it. It made my siblings extremely jealous, but it was worth it because on my thirteenth birthday, he had managed to find enough money to buy me a small dagger from the Raven Armory.

Where he got the money was a mystery to everyone in the family, but he had gotten it and he had spent it on me. My mother was furious and wouldn't speak to either of us for weeks. She complained to everyone else in the family about how Father must have stolen the money, or if he had saved it up, he had probably starved everyone in the family to do it. She grumbled, griped, and groaned about how he was only helping to destroy me; I would never become a lady now, not with that crazy dagger that I kept hidden and strapped on the inside of my wrist.

I still have that dagger, and it's still concealed in the exact same spot, as clean and shiny as the day I first got it, even though it has been covered in blood too many times for me to count.

Mother screamed at Father for months, she demanded to know what on earth possessed him to buy it and when he only responded with a self-satisfied smile, she slapped him and gave my brother his dinner. After a while, she asked him why on earth didn't he give it to my brother, after all, what would a girl ever need with a dagger? All he said was that it might save my life some day; he had no idea how right he was when he said it. When my mother heard that she gasped and slapped him, and then my poor father was deprived of his meal once again.

Just as I was my father's pride and joy, Andy was, in some way, my mother's. Although that may just have been because Mother and Andy both loved Father more than a little less than I did.

It was my father's fault that my brother's name was Andorielle, of course we always called him Andy, but it was written on the official documents that he was Andorielle. Nobody knew, but he lived in constant fear that it would be found out. Andy should have been my father's favorite, because he was the only boy in the family, but my father insisted that he was a piece of trash and would never be fit for anything. Father really did love Andy. When he finally told him so, it was too late.

Andy and I looked nothing alike and were nothing alike, but we loved each other to death despite the fact that we could barely be kept from each other's throats. He was tall and lanky, with a headful of messy blond hair that could never be tamed and constantly had dirt stuck in it. His dark green eyes were the only thing we had in common. He would have been handsome had it not been for the large, ungainly nose planted in the middle of his face. All the men in my family had the same nose, and that was why all the men in my family were never particularly good-looking.

People made fun of him because he had such red full lips. They would often call him a girl, without ever knowing how deep that name cut him. He really was a rather sensitive person, but he never let it show to anyone but me. The next day, the offenders would be found with multiple bruises, a black eye or two, and an occasional broken nose. The only person I allowed to make fun of him, other than me, was my father. Even my father was wary of my wrath if Andy was too offended, because I had the worst temper in the family and that was why Father loved me so much.

Elspeth was my oldest sister, the one who was obsessed with animals. She and I looked so much alike that we were the two everyone thought were twins whenever Mother announced proudly there was a set of twins in the family. Nobody could ever see the one year that set us apart; they immediately assumed we were the same age because Elspeth was tall for her age, and I was short for mine.

It didn't matter what everyone else said, but I could never see myself in Elspeth's bookish face. Elspeth taught herself how to read, and afterwards proceeded to teach – or attempt to teach – everyone else in the family. I have always kept my literacy a secret, not ever having seen any point in giving out any more information than is needed, especially not in my profession. I even kept it secret from my family; Elspeth often grew exasperated with me because I used to play it dumb while being taught. I didn't know them why I did it, perhaps because I wanted to spite Elspeth, since she was Mother's favorite.

She was everything Mother ever wanted in a daughter; smart, pretty, hardworking, and above all else, the most ladylike person I ever met in my life. She was what every girl strives to be, and she did it without any effort. Her compassion for anything and everything on the face of this earth was the reason for all the animals in the house. She often found some poor abandoned stray in the middle of the gutter, and brought it home in order to nurse it back to life.

That was the other thing with Elspeth; she knew what she wanted to be in life, and she had the Gift to help her along. She knew that she was going to be a Healer one day. She drove me near crazy, practicing on us, stray pets and wild animals alike, even the neighbors' children. She was perfect in all aspects, and that was why everyone loved her.

The funny thing is, I always thought that Irissa was the prettier one. She was very shapely, looked good in just about anything, had full lips, a quaint little nose, and had dark blonde hair that had never been cut in her entire life. She let it grow and grow, and since it grew so fast, it had reached her ankles by her sixteenth birthday. I loved her hair, and I wished desperately for those long, shimmering, golden waves that were always cascading down her back. I only explanation for why she refused to put her hair up, was probably because she was the biggest idiot I ever met in my entire life.

Perhaps that was what prevented her from being loved by everyone just as Elspeth was. Rissa was afraid of mud, terrified of un-painted nails, and froze at the thought of wearing the same outfit more than once. That fear of hers probably contributed more to the fact that my family was barely scraping along financially than my father's low-paying job. As a result, Elspeth's and my dresses were often made too short and all my other sisters' dresses were made too long in order to insure that Iris never had to wear the exact same outfit more than once. I never really understood why Mother and Father indulged in her silliness, but then again, nobody ever said I understood too much. It was a gift from the Goddess then, that none of my other sisters were too vain; I would rather wear Andy's hand-me-downs; and my mother was so amazing with the needle that she could make a burlap bag into an evening gown every time she took it into her hands with her sewing basket.

I swear to the Goddess that Lilith was one of the only reasons I hadn't gone and drowned myself in Lake Naxen by the time I turned fifteen. Lily was tomboyish like me, and loved everyone in the family to death; yet, for some reason, was nobody's favorite. My mother often yelled at her for being just like me, Andy thought she was a nuisance, Father often forgot she existed, Rissa was disgusted by her muddiness, Elspeth told her she was even dumber than was, and my two youngest sisters listened to everyone else and decided not to like her either.

As for me, I was delighted with her. Andy would always be my favorite, just because he was my twin, but Lily fascinated me. She possessed a spirit identical to mine, only she had the Gift and was the fastest thing on two legs. Lily wasn't pretty enough to be recognized, and didn't want to be recognized. She spoke little and ate less, and was so thin that I was often worried she would be blown away by the wind. Of course, she was too stubborn to let the wind take her so easily, and constantly reminded me she was just like the flower she was named after, all she needed was sunshine and rain.

It was a relief to be around her, especially given the family that I had. All my other sisters thought I was a failure in life because I was always beating everyone up, and took any chance they got to lecture me about it. Lily couldn't care less about my etiquette; she loved me because I was me and because I let her do just what she wanted.

She didn't look like much, with her short brown hair, dreamy hazel eyes, and habitual muteness, yet when she ran, she could outrun anyone and anything. We often won bets this way because I would bet a good, solid, copper that she could win, and all the boys would look at her, then back at me, and then laugh. I would smile my lopsided smile and hold out my hand for the money as they gaped in wide-eyed wonder as she flew across the finish line way ahead of everyone else, laughing her little heart out. Lily loved everyone in the family, and the only one who truly loved her back was me.

Katalynne was a diamond in the rough. Her talent for turning a patch of dirt into a living, breathing scene was far beyond anything anyone else in my family possessed. She was perfectly content with a scrap of parchment and a chunk of charcoal. Of course, her art supplies didn't come from nowhere, and so ever since she was old enough to scrub and clean, she worked at our neighbor's house and got paid for her labors. What money she earned, she spent on more quills, more parchment, more canvas, and more paints. She never had to teach herself to draw, she just knew how to; and could often be found sitting in the middle of the alleyway, painting away to her heart's content. What's more, her work was wonderful. Most of it was kept in the house, and made our pathetic little home look a bit fancier. Her best ones were bought by our neighbors or sold during Market Day to various travelers. She earned quite a handsome sum from them, and immediately went to the market to buy more supplies.

She worried me no end. Her eyes were often frustrated, and her unwieldy brown hair was so hard to keep in order that she often went to the kitchen and attempted to chop it off. She never was able to do it, and after a while, just braided it into two tight braids and prayed to the Goddess that it would stay that way. She didn't believe she was pretty and no amount of persuasion could sway her. She wished constantly for a figure like Rissa's, beautiful black hair like Elspeth's, and oh what she wouldn't do for my eyes. She wished constantly for a beau, but after a month of chasing one boy, gave up and resigned to painting her prince charming and hanging him up on her wall. This painting drove Rissa and Lily crazy, and when they pulled it down, Lynne flew into a tantrum and gave the two of them a thrashing. After it was over, she felt so bad about hurting them that she painted them both a portrait to comfort them and placed it over their cots.

Valona, the baby of the family, loved to argue, and that's really all there is to say about her. She argued with everyone, even the tax collector who came by once every two months.

She argued with Mother about her hair, which was the ugliest shade of brown ever imaginable. She would stick the tangled strands in Mother's face and proclaim that they resembled a piece of, well, excrement. How, she reasoned, would she ever get married off with hair like that? Mother wouldn't let her dye it red, and Val was furious.

She quarreled with Father about anything and everything because she knew it made him happy. She figured if she made him happy enough, he might buy her a nice present from some nice store on her thirteenth birthday too.

She fought with Andy over the stupidest things because there was nothing else to fight with Andy about. He developed a habit of ignoring her and letting her do anything she wanted. This, of course, didn't please Val in the slightest because she was only happy when she could throw a fit over not getting what she wanted.

She broke Elspeth's nose once because Elspeth wouldn't let her help with the kittens as a result of Val's clumsiness. Val didn't care a wit about her clumsiness; she kept insisting that her fingers were built to be clumsy, and who could argue about how the Great Mother Goddess made her?

She got into heated disputes with Rissa since Rissa was the stupid one in the family, and she loved to confuse her with statements like, "When I tell you to say uncle, you must not say uncle, because there is no point of making you say uncle when you want to say uncle." Then she would proceed to tell Rissa to say uncle, and poor Rissa would stare at her in such bewilderment and then gulp and say uncle. This made Val mad, because she had just told Rissa not to say uncle just a few moments before.

Lily got yelled at by her because she would attempt to argue with Lily and Lily never answered back. This, understandably, made her even madder because she could not see the point of wasting her breath on someone who would not even try to yell back. What's worse is that when Val got mad, she would turn a bright red, and that would make Lily laugh so hard she usually ended up shaking on the floor. Poor Lily would have to run up to the room they shared and lean against the door to keep Val's pounding fists from hitting her bare arms.

She nearly blasted Lynne's eardrums our on a regular basis because Lynne was always leaving her paints and art supplies all over their room and the Goddess knew that Val didn't need any streaks of bright orange on her face on top of having that horrid hair of hers.

As for me, all you need to know about me is that my name is Arielle.

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**A/N: **soooooooo... how was it? Ok, I kno, it prolly was a little weird, but hey, what can I say? I'm in a really weird mood. Spring break really does do things to your mind you know. Well, so, who's you favorite? R&R ALL! You kno you WANT to! Muah! Luv everyone lots! -Laurana 


	2. George

**Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me, unfortunately. It's all Tamora Pierce/Random House's. And, seeing as how I've had the pleasure of meeting Tamora Pierce, I don't think it would be very nice of me to steal her characters and her places and everything else.**

**A/N:** This chappie is dedicated to Viv because she was kind enough to do research that I was too lazy to do. THANX VIV! Sry if it's kinda weird and random at parts, my bro kicked me off the computer and I couldn't remember what I was talking about. Hey, at least I tried! ENJOY! **Edit:** halla all, me making changes again.

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Chapter 2 – George 

I met George when I was six. I was sitting against the side of my house and all of a sudden I felt something bump into me and then a hot jarring pain ran all the way up from my elbow to my pinkie. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself."

I just glared at him, rubbing my pinkie because it still stung. He slid down the side of the wall and sat down next to me, "What's a girl like you doing in breeches?"

"Why's a boy like you not wearing a skirt?" He seemed a bit taken aback by that comment and then he laughed. The nerve!

"You think I'm handsome."

I slapped him.

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That was the first time. After that I never seemed to be able to get rid of him. It got to be so bad that I wouldn't go out until after dark, and even then he managed to find me. This amused Andy no end, he called me chicken and teased me whenever he could get away with it.

Then I decided that ignoring him was the best. I had tried avoiding him, and failed rather miserably at it, since he would never go away, so I figured if I just shut up he would eventually find someone else to bother. It seemed that he always knew exactly where I was and what I was doing, and he was always there. I don't know how, but somehow, he knew and he used to watch me, squatting in the street with my arms wrapped around knees that I hugged close to my chest and my head resting on my knees. After weeks upon weeks of stony silence, he announced, "You're in my spot."

"What?"

He gasped in mock surprise, "She speaks!"

I glared at him.

He went on as if he hadn't seen me, "You see, I used to sit there, and then you stole my spot."

I opened my mouth to say something and remembered my vow of silence; he would go away once he got bored. I should have realized I would have had more of a chance trying to make Gainel get up on a table in a hot pink dress and do a jig.

"I used to sit there and think about things," fat chance of that blockhead thinking, "and sometimes I wondered who my Da was. I mean, was he a good man, or what? I've never met him, and Ma never talks about him. I don't have any siblings. I really wish I did. Wouldn't it be nice to have a brother that protects you? Not that I need any protection, mind you," yeah, right, whatever you say, "You have a brother, don't you? Is it great? I think it would be fab-fabbbbb-" here he stumbled, his tongue tripping over an unknown word. I rolled my eyes, and he grinned, "Must mean you like me, or you never would've cared if I knew the word or not."

"I DO NOT!" then I covered my mouth, I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Course you do! You love me, don't deny it."

I muttered something about egos being too big for certain tiny brains before getting up and stomping away.

Upon sneaking up to my room, I found Andy already up, with a malicious grin on his face. I told him I didn't want to hear his malarkey, he asked me how I knew such a big word, and I stuck my tongue out at him before dropping into bed.

Occurrences like that one became a part of everyday life. The day after my seventh birthday, I was out wandering in the streets, trying my best to seem inconspicuous while my little hand slipped up into stalls and took some food to eat. It had been a bad year, and nothing in Mother's pathetic little garden had survived. Father had gotten fired, again, and everyone went hungry. It wasn't surprising then, that Lily grew up to be such a tiny girl, she had never gotten enough to eat as an infant.

---

I had managed to successfully grab a bun and had just set my teeth into it when a large hand came down on my shoulder and spun me around. I gasped, stared at him, looked at my bun, grinned and hid to food behind my back while beaming at him with my most innocent smile. "Little," here he paused, not sure what to call me, "street rat, do not think that you will be able to win me over with your tricks. I have dealt with enough people like you to know a troublemaker when I see one."

"Trouble, what trouble?" my heart was beating so hard I thought it might burst out of my ribcage any minute, but I didn't show it. I had learned a while back never to show that I was scared, because it would give me a handsome beating.

"Don't think I didn't see you steal that bun. I want you to put it back now, or I shall have to call the guard to take you to my Lord Provost, and we'll see what he has-"

"Dearest sister! What did I tell you about being polite?" That voice was very familiar, I twisted around, trying to get a good look. A hand swiped the bun out of my hand and held it out to the baker who had me captive. "My sister here is very ignorant. She believes that she is allowed to take anything she wants, the silly goose. Here, take this for your troubles," he handed the man a silver noble and told him to keep the change.

The baker gaped, then closed his hand around the money and announced, "Well, I'm sorry about that, next time, remember to keep your sister in check." He let me go and I turned around, glaring at George, "I'm N-" his large, calloused hand clamped down firmly over my mouth before I could give him a piece of my mind. "Do you want to go to my Lord Provost?" he whispered in my ear while dragging me though the crowd. Once we got to my alleyway, he let me go and I proceeded to yell, "YOU! I AM NOT YOUR SISTER!"

"I never said you were," then he took out a bun and stuffed it into my mouth to get me to be quiet. I choked and spit it out onto the ground, "I. Do. Not. Want. Your. Help."

"Whatever." He turned and left, dropping a bag into my hands and marching off. My first thought was to throw the bag away, and then a delicious smell reached my nose, my curiosity overwhelmed me and I dug around, trying to see what was inside. Pulling my hand out, I gasped and sprinted the entire way back home.

Once there, I dumped the contents of the bag out into my mother's lap and grinned at her startled expression. Normally she would have accused me of thievery, but having gone without any food for a week changed her mind. She screeched, hugged me, and called for Father.

That night, my family had a feast, well, something resembling a feast. Each one of us was given two warm, sticky buns while Mother hummed as she cut into one of the two loaves of white bread. "White bread!" Rissa had exclaimed, "I feel like the queen! Not," she added, "that I'm not one already." She then stuck her little four-year-old nose up in the air and strutted around, waving her hunk of bread like is was a scepter. My father stared at the handful of silver and bronze nobles with a silly grin on his face. "My dear wife, I do believe that our Ariel is useful after all."

What I didn't tell them was that it was not I who had stolen the food, but George. I tried to tell myself that I had been the one who had acquired it, and George had nothing to do with the matter. After a while, I began to feel guilty. I sulked and became grumpy as our meager supply of bread ran out all too soon. Father tried to urge me to go down to the bazaars and "do something useful". Mother ignored my antics because she felt that it was her payment to me. She didn't scold me for almost a whole moon. Elspeth looked at me with admiring eyes, for at six, she really did believe that I had performed some miracle. Rissa went about the house stuffing her face and the three babies only cared about sleep.

Andy, however recognized my guilty symptoms immediately. He cornered me and demanded to know what was up, his sharp green eyes boring into my own. I managed to tell him bits and pieces of my story and as soon as he heard most of it, he turned on his heel and left the house. I stumbled after him, sure that he was going to beat something up. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to go far. Andy found his target sitting against the wall and didn't hesitate to give him a sound thrashing.

When he was done, he shouted a warning, "Leave my sister alone," and left. I stared, horrified at what he had just done. Rushing to the unfortunate boy, I found George's accusing hazel eyes staring up at me. "I should have known the moment I met you that you were trouble. Next time, I'll just let the dogs have you."

"No, that's not it at all. I didn't-"

"I would have thought that you might have at least had the bravery to tell me you hated me. Turns out you were a coward after all. That boy fights like Chaos himself."

Those hazel eyes had me trapped and I couldn't snap back at him as he got slowly up and limped away.

---

I told myself over and over again that I should have said something. I should have at least told him thank you. He avoided me, I didn't see him for weeks, and even when I did it was at a distance. Every time I tried to catch up to him, he would shoot me a hateful glance and run off in the opposite direction. I hadn't realized that this annoying person had been something of a friend.

In the end, I gave up and vented my anger at my brother. I told him that it was all his fault and next time he should leave me alone. I complained to Father about him and Father got mad and yelled. I told Mother that Andy was being a bully and Mother took away his dinner. It was all payback. I thought that in torturing Andy, I was paying him back for what he did to George. In reality, it was trying to make him hurt as much as I was hurting because I lost a friend I never knew I had. Of course, at seven, I had no idea this was the reason for my lashing out. At seven, all I knew was that I was upset, and since the world revolved around me, everyone else had to be upset because I was upset.

Finally, I gathered up what little courage and dignity I had left and went off in search of George. I couldn't find him anywhere during the day, and decided to look at night. I found him sitting in the exact same position I used to sit in, in the exact same spot on the wall. I walked over to him, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry."

He looked up at me and his eight-year-old heart was so big that once he saw the tears in my eyes he forgave me. He forgave me for all those times I had hurt him when he was only looking for a friend. He forgave me for all those times he had helped me and received a sharp word or a black eye as thanks. He forgave me for everything I had ever done to hurt him and said, "I'm sorry too, will you be my friend?"

I held out my hand and sniffed, "Yes."

He took my hand in his too large ones and we shook on it. Then I took my hand out of his, spit in the palm and said he had to do the same or he might break his promise. He grinned, obliged and made a face as the saliva as squished between out hands. "Gross."

"Gross? What's gross?"

"Your spit."

"Your spit is grosser than my spit."

"Your face is uglier than my face."

"Your nose is crookeder than my nose."

"I like crookeder noses."

"Well I like uglier faces."

We grinned, my mother shouted for me to come in, and we parted as friends. It's amazing how young hearts forgive so readily.

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**A/N:** ok... a little stupid and weird, but it's all good. oh, and anyone who can figure out where I got the idea for the first meeting between George and Ariel gets a cookie! Arghhh. I can't tell if their speech is little-kiddish enough. 

Thank you to:

**Wake-Robin: **aww, thnx! Ya, I kno, it's kind confusing, but hey, I got confused too! So it's all good. You get a cookie for being to first reviewer!

**MAR:** I figured it out! Marge, Amelia, Rachel! I WIN! Ya, the raven armory thing is a little of a ... mystery to everyone, you'll see why later, I PROMISE! (I think) and, mulan rocks! Its, "with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon!" not blahblahblah! we are men! blahblh! we are men! b;ahblahblah! we are men!

**eat paper: **yeah, I realized they were a little too descriptive, but hey, at least you know who they are!

**White Lizard:** lol, ya, sry that I spent so much time on the other characters. But it's good that you got to know Ariel, cuz I'm trying to make you get to know her but not because she tells you all about her... did that make any sense? D ya! I sorta kinda named her after you but not really... XD (that's my dead face) is this soon enough for you?

**Goldentwilight:** tyty, ya, I know that it's kinda evil and not happy go lucky, but it's all good! Sry about the paragraphs. I tried to make it better this time, but there are still some long-ish ones. HAPPY B-DAY IN ... counts A COUPLE OF DAYS! (think of this update as an early-ish b-day present)


	3. The Falcons

**Disclaimer: The characters, places, and all that fun rot are the property of Tamora Pierce and Random House.**

Hi all! I'm reposting this because I messed something up... stupid me whacks self on head thanx to meanderer for correcting me! I'm stupid that way... sigh

**A/N:** wow, getting reviews is so exciting! It made me HAPPY! I realized a little too late that George and Ariel don't talk like 7 year olds... but it's all good... sigh **Edit: **yes, it's me again. And yes, I'm editing again. Nothing big.

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Chapter 3 – The Falcons 

There was a group of boys that Andy and I used to play with all the time. Somebody had the brilliant idea of naming us The Falcons, and the name stuck. Even now, when asked what I do, I always reply with a mysterious, "I'm a Falcon". There were boys of all ages, the oldest was probably 18 and the youngest was 4. There was a small smattering of girls but not many; they consisted of me, Lily, and three others.

We liked to play at being part of the King's Own and could be found running in and out of alleyways waving our "swords". Someone found a discarded broomstick somewhere and, after much persuasion, I got Lynne to use some of her precious paints and paint a horse's head on it. We used to have mock duels for possession of the horse.

Sometimes, we would spend our time walking up and down the streets of Corus on Market Day, looking at all the amazing things that could be bought if we had the money. Usually when we did that, the vendors kept a sharp eye on us, since we were known to have taken things from stalls, but someone has yet to find proof to back up that claim. Once in a blue moon, somebody would have enough money to buy something, and us Falcons would help them pick something out. This drove everyone mad because often we would convince them to buy something, and then the lucky person with the money would decide not to get anything after all.

The Dancing Dove was also a popular hangout. Of course, the little ones weren't allowed in, and Solom never gave us anything but lemonade, most of the time. I remember when I turned ten and was deemed old enough to go to the Dancing Dove, I was so excited that Mother somehow managed to get me into a dress. What's worse is, I went out with it on and didn't notice until Lily asked what in the world I was doing wearing a dress. That got everyone else started and I glared at them so fiercely that Solom said I was a regular spitfire.

In return for being allowed to be a part of the Falcons, all of us girls would have to play at being the Captured Princess. It was a vital part in the game of Princes and Princesses that we used to play all the time. Without a Captured Princess, Prince Charming wouldn't have anyone to save, and then what would be the point? Prince Charming was determined by whoever had possession of the horse, Prince Charming had to have a horse. I hated it when my turn came, and it wasn't until later that I realized I had learned two valuable lessons from it. One of them was acting, I had to be a pretty good one, otherwise I wouldn't get saved by my Prince Charming. The second was that perfectly nice guys can be complete perverts.

Once, having just been saved, I was singing, "I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas, I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas. I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas, I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas. I like to eat eat eat epples and benenes, I like to eat eat eat epples and benenes. I like to iat iat iat ipples and bininis, I like to iat iat iat ipples and bininis..." the song goes on. Elspeth had taught it to me, hoping that I would learn my vowels. The only reason I sang it was because it sounded absolutely ridiculous and it made everyone laugh. Eddie, who had been my Prince Charming, came up behind me and asked it I wanted to eat his banana. Never one to give up free food, I nodded vigorously. Imagine my surprise when he pulled off his breeches and told me to go ahead. I stared at him, and then it, and then back at him again. Finally understanding what he had meant, I screeched and ran as fast as I could back home.

George refused to join. He always insisted that he was already part of another "gang" and there was no way we could get him to switch allegiances. It wasn't until years later that I learned he was part of the rouge. By the time I had that figured out, he was already The Rogue. Even though George was never officially one of us, he was so friendly to everyone that we let him play with us, no questions asked.

There were so many Falcons that I don't remember them all, although there were four that I remember very distinctly.

First is Jayson. Jayson was two years older than me and is the nicest looking boy I have ever met in my entire life. It might have been his incredibly high cheekbones and red lips, or maybe it was that tightly muscled look he seemed to have been born with. Possibly it was his curly brownish hair and soulful blue-grey eyes that were framed by the longest lashes I have ever seen. Maybe it wasn't in his looks at all, maybe it was just because he was such a nice person with that cute habit of tugging at his earlobe (which he later pierced) whenever he was troubled. Whatever it was, the girls seemed to flock around him, me included. I had forgotten that I vowed to marry George within about two minutes of meeting Jayson, and was convinced for years that Jayson was the one I was destined to marry. Even Rissa, who considered herself too good for any boy, drooled over pictures of him that Lynne had drawn.

On top of having good looks, Jayson had a great singing voice. After a particularly tiring day of running around Corus with our fake swords hollering war cries, I had fainted from the heat. Jason, being the oldest and strongest there, had picked me up, brought me home, and sang me to sleep when I began to wake. Andy tells me he had then tucked me in, sang another beautiful song, and left. Rissa was jealous for days afterward.

The second is Eddie, unpredictable, perverted, hilarious Eddie (whose real name, I found out, was actually Edwardo). This was the boy who shouted "EWWWW!" whenever someone talked about eating bananas.

Once, upon learning that I would have to bleed all over the place for a week every moon for the rest of my life, I announced, "This sucks butt."

"Ariel!"

"What?"

"Use proper language."

"Sorry O proper brother of mine. Does 'This sucks eggs' suit you?"

"How about 'This sucks nuts'?" someone quipped.

At that, Eddie started banging his head on the wall and announcing to the whole world that all his friends were the most perverted people he had ever met. Of course, nobody had thought of the comment that way until he had brought it up. In seconds everyone was screaming, "Gross", "Ug", "Disgusting", "Sick", "Ewwww", or something along the lines of that. Getting back up, Eddie had rubbed his head, surveyed the chaos he had caused, and grinned.

I don't even remember 'Finger's real name anymore. George had brought him along one day and we had simply admitted him because George had said so. Lightfingers was his full nickname, but someone had the genius idea of shortening it, and so he became 'Fingers. He was the best pickpocket I have ever met, aside from George, of course. His innocent looking eyes made sure that he was never the suspect of any thievery. Andy had once asked him to pull an innocent face, and he did it so well that Andy never even noticed his apple had been taken from his pocket until 'Fingers burst out laughing. He taught me how to pick pockets, and although I was never adept at it, it has come in handy on more than one occasion. It was from him that I learned George was the Rogue. The year I turned sixteen, 'Fingers kept on calling George, "Your Highness". At first we all thought George was making him, but when he persisted, I asked him what was going on. "You mean you don't know?"

I was confused, "Don't know what?"

"About George."

"What about him?"

'Fingers seemed to think about this for a little while before saying that if I really wanted to know, I would have to ask "His Highness".

I told him if he didn't tell me now, then I would throttle him.

He grinned at me, "Arielle, you don't look like much, but when you threaten someone like that, what's a man to do but tell you the truth?"

I grinned my crooked grin back at him and he told me. Then he made me promise to pretend I didn't know a thing until George told me. Of course, I crossed my fingers when I promised, and the first thing I did was confront George about it. He didn't deny it, didn't even twitch when I yelled at him for keeping that secret from me. Andy found me candlemarks later, gave George an apologetic look, and dragged me out of the room.

'Fingers, of course, never heard a word of this.

Gabrielle was the oldest female Falcon. She was older than Lily by six years and older than me by one. I always thought that Gabby was strange. She insisted on being called Gabby, always wore a long sleeved black shirt and black skirt even in the blazing summer heat, had pale skin that never tanned or sunburned, and so many bracelets hanging from both wrists that it gave you a headache trying to count them. That wasn't even the strangest thing about her.

I observed one day that she never seemed to go home. Either that, or she didn't have a home. She didn't talk about her family either. I thought that she didn't have a family or a home and just lived out on the streets and voiced these opinions to Lily. Lily gave me a look and said tersely, "You wouldn't know," before running off to race Eddie around the Palace walls.

That was the other thing. Lily and Gabby were like the Bazhir and the Great Southern Desert, virtually inseperable. Neither of them talked very much and it was very disconcerting to watch the two of them staring into each other's eyes in complete silence, a silence that seemed to go on and on and on.

She also had the Gift. Her gift had the strangest, most fascinating color. It was white, yet not, there were bits and pieces of every other color in it, and sometimes looked as if it were as glimmering rainbow. But once you thought of it as a rainbow, the white returned and once you realized it really wasn't white at all, the sparkling color would come back again.

Gabby was brilliant. She was wise beyond her years and often spoke only to make a philosophical comment. Once, Andy had been complaining about how horrible Father was to him and Gabby announced, completely out of the blue, "We cannot choose our relatives, but we can choose out friends." There was complete silence for the longest time before she got up and walked away. The second she left, the alley began buzzing with whispered remarks and an occasional, loud, "That was really smart." Lily had sighed in disgust and left.

Another time, when Gabby and Lily had been doing their weird staring-into- each-other's-eyes thing, Eddie had whispered, "That is totally not normal." The black-clad girl didn't move anything except her eyes, which locked onto his, and said, "What is normal? Are you normal? Think about it." Then she went back to staring at Lily again. Poor Eddie had been scared out of his wits and didn't make one sick comment for a whole two days straight, it was a record.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Gabby well enough, she was just so creepy. I'm glad I was never on her bad side. I had only seen her get angry once, and that was enough for me. The poor offender was bedridden for months with broken bones, is still partially blind out of one eye, and walks with a limp. Gabby was fiercely protective of people she loved, but those were few in number, Lily was one of them, Jayson was another. She tolerated me, and was nice enough when I managed to say something relatively smart sounding or when I said nothing at all. I think she preferred silence to any other noise in the world, even Jayson's singing.

I'm pretty sure Mother disapproved of my being a Falcon, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She used her regular threats and they never worked on me. Father, on the other hand, was thrilled. Then Mother had given him the Look and he had scolded me for being such a horrible daughter and such an improper girl while slipping a little piece of sweetmeat into my hand. Elspeth made a face and said nothing. Rissa was so incredibly shocked and disgusted that she didn't speak to me for the longest time. That was before she saw Jayson and decided I was her favorite sister. Lynne couldn't care less as long as she was left alone and nobody misplaced her art supplies. And little Val argued with me simply because she could. "You play with boys? Yuck!"

"Oh no! That's SO gross," I retorted sarcastically.

Val hated sarcasm, "You sound like a pig."

"Gasp! Pigs? Anything but pigs!" I pretended to swoon.

"Ariel, you are such a-a-," she changed tactics, "say uncle."

"I'm a say uncle? Exciting."

"I can't believe you are so stupid. Who wants to play with boys anyways?"

"I do, it's better than playing with you."

Knowing she had lost, my youngest sister screeched, turned bright red, and stormed out of the house. I grinned, being a Falcon is better than being a girl any day.

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**A/N:** I'm so proud of myself for updating soon-ish! R&R! And another thing. For that meeting w/George, none of you even GUESSED what it was from... sigh I'm so disappointed... not really. Well it was from This Lullaby (just in case anyone wanted to kno) Thank you's to: 

**PK:** omg, I'm like Tolkien! spazes omg omg omg omg! D ya, I know that the beginning descriptions were kind of long-ish... but it's all good. Thanx!

**eat paper: **yep yep yep, I updated! Thanks.

**Star1017:** yeah, I see what you're saying. I'm making the chapters relatively short because then I can update sooner. But the beginning part is mostly description. It's gonna start getting more action-y soon! And, no, George doesn't do anything THAT bad, but he does play a pretty big part. I'm still not sure how long it's going to take me. I have MOST of the storyline plotted out, but not all of it. Well, thanx so much, I shall try to make it better!

**TruthSetter:** I say in the first chapter that Arielle looks almost exactly like Elspeth, so black hair, green eyes, short, fun stuff like that. TY!

**Wake-Robin:** Yeah, a little gross, but hey, seven year olds are kinda gross like that! Thnx!

**MAR-MA:** you weirdo! Well, I TOLD you I would update something soon, so ya, I win you lose. I luv ya!

**Meanderer:** sigh I shall explain. Ready? George is George in Alanna. He isn't a rich noble and he can't die. Yes, he stole the buns and the money. Remember in pirates w/jack sparrow? Same concept. He gave the baker money and stole more money from him at the same time. Sry if it's not as mysterious-y as you thought. Lol, of COURSE I will be your friend, only if you promise not to tickle me or poke me in the tummy. And happy post-lab practical to you too! D


	4. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish this belonged to me, it doesn't. It's all Tamora Pierce and Random house.**

**A/N:** whohoo! I'm ALIVE! I actually STILL EXIST! Yeah, sry for abandoning this and everything else for so long…. I just wasn't in the mood. Ok… sry, bad excuse. Don't hurt me… PLEASE? **Edit: **still pretty-fying my language and whatnot

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Chapter 4 - The Beginning 

Everything started on my thirteenth birthday. Of course, nobody knew that at the time. And it wasn't until much later that I found out I was the cause of it.

I remember that day so clearly. It had been the best day of my short life, with me finally stealing a kiss from George and Father giving me the most exquisite dagger I'd ever set eyes on in my life.

Andy woke me up that morning by tackling me and throwing me out of bed. "Andy!"

"Happy birthday dearest sister of mine."

"Wassa matter wiv you? Sun's noddeven up," and with that, I crawled back under the covers.

He gasped in mock surprise, "Arielle's being lazy! I thought I'd never see the day."

"Shuddup."

"You're slurring."

I threw my pillow at him.

He grinned.

I threw my blanket at him.

He grinned even wider.

I realized I couldn't possibly go back to sleep without a pillow and a blanket, especially since a thin frost had covered the earth overnight. Since my nose had already gone numb and my toes felt like they were about to freeze off, I got up and stalked over to our washbasin, which was already filled with steaming hot water. I glanced at Andy and debated with myself, trying to decide if I should dump the whole thing over his head or thank him for thinking of me. In the end, I stuck my frozen hands into the delightfully hot water and cracked a smile at my twin. "Say 'thank you' Ariel."

"Thank you, Andy. You're the best," I dunked my face into the hot water and felt my nose come back to life.

"I know," he tossed my blanket at me and I wiped my face with it. He then ushered me down the rickety old ladder and into the kitchen, where I was nearly deafened by the noise that greeted me. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARIEL!"

Apparently, my whole family had decided to get up at some unholy hour and had started a nice, warm fire crackling in the kitchen. Someone, presumably George, who had dropped by last night with a mysterious package, had gotten a hold of a delicious drink which I later learned was called hot chocolate and it was simmering on the fire. Not only that, but there were packages on the table and a cake was creating wonderous smells from inside the oven.

"You're thirteen now, dearest, and old enough to take on some more responsibilities around the house."

I interrupted my father with a groan.

He put an arm around my shoulders and grinned at me, "But that doesn't mean that you can't have some fun first. Go on, open your presents."

I squealed with delight and attacked the table as my family watched on. Presents were a luxury in our house and here was a whole table full of them, just for me.

My mother had given me a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn, implying that I was now needed to help make clothes for the family. Andy got me a tiny glass falcon with a little loop at the top. Later, I found a chain for it and it now rests at the little hollow at the base of my neck, a place it hasn't moved from since. Elspeth had given me surprise, surprise, a roll of parchment and a quill, all my own. It must have cost her a fortune because parchment was expensive, so I thanked her profusely and was touched by her generosity. Rissa bought me two hair ribbons, one pink and one purple. I winced inwardly, but announced that I would be willing to share them with her, which I think was the reason she gave them to me in the first place. Lily just gave me one of her powerful hugs, and I knew that I needed nothing more from her. Lynne had sketched me a picture of myself riding a horse and brandishing a sword, something which I still keep wrapped in oiled paper and carry with me. And Val, being only six, hadn't thought of getting me anything, so Mother allowed her to carry the cake over to the table and she presented it to me with a flourish. And, of course, there was the Raven Armory dagger from my father.

That dagger caused an uproar in our house when I ripped off the brown paper and opened the box inside to reveal a dagger with a curved blade the length of my thumb. The blade had the silver-blue sheen of the best quality metal and the ebony handle held the stylized enamel raven that was the sign of Raven Armory. I held in my hands a fortune in metal and wasn't about to give it up, even when Mother lashed out at my father with screams and slaps loud enough to wake all of Corus. I swear on the Goddess that King Roald heard her in his bed in the Royal Palace, she was that loud.

That got everyone else in the house started. Andy protested that it wasn't fair that I got such an expensive gift while Elspeth and Rissa both shrieked and demanded that I not come close to them with that thing. Lily just gaped whilst Lynne and Val followed their older sisters' example and yelled at the top of their lungs.

This caused half our street to wake up and nearly knock our poor door off its hinges, trying to figure out who was dying in the house.

I managed to escape the hubbub by creeping back up the ladder and shimmying out the window, nearly breaking my neck in the process, as a result of the frost, which was colder than I had anticipated. The early December air bit at my face as I landed on the frozen ground. I'd also just realized I'd forgotten shoes. Brilliant. About to go back, I changed my mind as I rounded the corner, seeing as how the neighbors were still trying to break down our door.

Instead, I trotted towards the Dancing Dove, hoping Solom would be there to give me a mug of warm cider and a chair by the fire.

After having warmed up by the fire and drunk my fill of warm cider, I wandered out of the Dancing Dove into the fine powder that had begun to fall from the sky as soon as the sun came up. A rather large amount of snow had accumulated on the ground and I was grateful for the pair of boots Solom had lent me even though they were about three times too big. I shivered as I made my way back home, I'd been wearing nothing but a huge shirt and the pair of soft breeches that I usually wear to bed, having not had the chance to change since I'd been so rudely awakened by Andy candlemarks before.

---

George caught me on the way to my house and demanded to know where I'd been the whole morning.

I shrugged him off and kept walking, intent on getting back to a warm fire before my nose and the rest of my limbs froze off.

"Ariel!" he called in a scolding tone.

I hated being scolded, "What?"

"Your whole family has been looking for you since dawn. Where on earth have you been?" He jogged over and caught my arm in a firm grip, making me stop in my tracks.

This hadn't occurred to me before. Of course they'd be looking for me, it was my birthday after all. I groaned, feeling like a complete idiot. "Oh."

"Good job. Why don't I walk you back home, just to make sure you don't make yourself disappear again. Where did you run off to anyways?"

I shivered involuntarily, and George, having noticed, handed me his cloak. "I was at the Dancing Dove. Why didn't Andy think to look for me there? And you can keep your cloak, I'm not all that cold anyway," my chattering teeth betrayed me, and George placed his cloak around my shoulders, despite my protests.

"You little liar," he grinned down at me, already taller by more than a head. "Nobody thought you'd walk that far, not without shoes in weather this cold. Why'd you leave the house in the first place?"

"Let's just say a herd of madmen tried to pound down the door while my family was trying very hard to be heard by the whole city," I explained.

"I see," he said, and asked no more as we walked towards my house in a comfortable silence.

The temperature was dropping very rapidly and it began to snow even harder as swirling gray clouds covered the pale winter sun. The wind picked up and I could feel George's body shake and draped half of his cloak over his shoulders when his teeth began to chatter. Being as short as I was, I had a bit of trouble getting the cloth over his shoulder and he laughed at me as I jumped to complete the task. "I would think you'd get taller as you got older. Apparently not," he teased.

"Go shove it, George," my height was a sensitive topic and he knew it.

"How rude."

I attempted to throw a snowball at him, but failed miserably since the snow was too fluffy to pack. The wind had picked up by then and the snow blew back into my face as the snowball fell apart. He laughed and pulled the edge of the cloak around his shoulder, where it was starting to slip off. The tightening of the cloth pulled us closer to each other and I flushed as George slipped his arm around my waist, drawing us even closer. I didn't slap his arm away because the warmth of his body was beginning to warm me up a little and because I rather enjoyed the feel if his long, lanky arm wrapped securely around my waist. But mainly, it was because I was too cold to protest.

"Ariel," he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling my neck.

I looked up into his hazel eyes, "Yeah?" I whispered, just as quietly as he had.

And then his face was inches from mine, not even because our noses were touching, and the next thing I knew, I felt the soft, warm brush of his lips on my own.

It was not a very good kiss, because our teeth clicked together and our noses somehow managed to get into the most inconvenient places, but it was a kiss from George, and when we broke apart, I was smiling like an idiot. So maybe it was more because I liked having his arm around my waist, but Ganiel would have to pull me though the underworld and out before I would admit that.

"Happy birthday, Ariel," he whispered again. He'd better watch out, or this whispering might become a habit. And then he walked me the rest of the way home, guiding me though the alleys with a sure arm. When we reached the door, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek before pushing me into a kitchen full of my scowling family and the delicious smell of hot chocolate still coming from the fire.

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**A/N:** ahhhh…. So not completely ideal… but I've gotten past the description part. Aight. So whoever wants to give me suggestions knock yourself out. And if you feel the need to knock me out with a hammer and stick my head down the toilet, I'll understand. Although I honestly hope you won't. Thanks to all who reviewed! 


	5. Andy's Birthday

**Disclaimer: As poor as I am, I'm not making ANY money from this and it belongs to Tamora Pierce/Random House.**

**A/N:** Aight. I only have a tiny bit of any idea as to where I'm going with this bit of plot, so if it sucks, bear with me please. And whoever feels like giving me some ideas, knock yourself out! **Edit: **Laurana here. Again, just editing, nothing major. Although I _am_ really stuck, so maybe nothing new for a while. Besides, exams absolutely blow.

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Chapter 5 – Andy's Birthday 

It was utterly and completely not my fault that Eddie and George somehow managed to convince me to help them plan something akin to a surprise party for my twin. It was also utterly and completely not my fault that we ended up leading some of my Lord Provost's men on a chase through the streets of Corus. But of course, I was the one who got yelled at when we arrived home. How my mother even knew it was the Falcons who had started the whole thing was and still is completely beyond me, but I suppose mothers are like that.

---

"Psst! Hey, Elle, c'mere," I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder and mentally kicked myself for letting myself be startled so easily. Without turning around, I knew it was Eddie, and I knew that he was about to persuade me to do something incredibly retarded.

"Don't touch me," I pushed his hand off my shoulder and whirled around, "What?"

He backed up, hands raised, and if I didn't know him as well as I did, I would have thought him to be seriously offended. Then he dropped his hands and grinned, "Hey, I know you want some of this, but it doesn't mean you have to go around playing hard-to-get."

I made a disgusted noise and didn't even bother maiming his privates before turning to leave. "Elle! Get back here!" he grabbed my arm and literally dragged me behind one of the stalls that had been set up in preparation for Market Day.

I slapped his hand away, "I _told_ you not to touch me." I was still upset over having been startled earlier and this had put me into a foul mood.

"Aren't we being a little bitchy today?"

I turned my back to him, crossed my arms, and ignored him.

He continued as if I were giving him my undivided attention, "Although I can't say I don't like it. Seriously though-"

I scoffed. Serious? Eddie? You wish.

"-tomorrow's Andy's birthday and I was thinking that we should give him a party. I talked to George about it. He doesn't seem to think it's such a bad idea. Oh I forgot to tell you yesterday, happy birthday."

Intrigued, though it would have killed me to admit it, I turned back around and faced the little pervert, "If you're going to have a party, why not tell Andy about it? It is _his_ birthday, after all."

"Because it's going to be a surprise, silly," an arm snaked around my waist and I didn't bat it away, astonishing Eddie so much that his eyes almost fell out of their sockets. I gave George my little crooked grin before asking what on earth they were planning to do.

Apparently, their ingenious plan involved kicking everyone except Solom out of the Dancing Dove and throwing a party there. Only thing was, there were a couple of problems. One of which was that the current Rogue was incredibly protective of the place and although I'd never met the man, I'd heard he was not one to cross. Another was the fact that the Dancing Dove was always bustling with activity; it was going to be impossible to get everyone out. Besides, if this party was supposed to be a secret until tomorrow, how were we going to be sure Andy didn't hear of it?

I voiced all of these problems and was given a superior smirk from George that annoyed me so much that I batted his arm away also. Which, of course, made Eddie grin so wide I swear Mithros heard his cheeks crack.

They then proceeded to tell me what exactly it was I needed to do.

George had overheard some men talking about how somebody had broken into some expensive store (he hadn't managed to catch the name) and how my Lord Provost was going to conduct a search throughout the whole of Corus to see whom it had been. Apparently, the owner of this store was not one to just willingly accept the fact that he had been thieved because he had been the one who had brought his grievances to my Lord Provost and had ordered that when the thief was found, they would be brought into his custody. George made a face, and I could only guess at what kind of torture would be inflicted on the poor victim. He said that the intricacies of the whole thing weren't important.

What was important was my role in their little scheme to clean out the Dancing Dove. I was to rush into the Dancing Dove and announce that there was going to be a search of the tavern the next day. Since it was common knowledge among the poor of Corus that the Rogue had his headquarters in the place, it would not be suspicious at all if some young bit of street child were to know where the largest concentration of thieves lived. I got to be that "young bit of street child" because I was the shortest. I protested, saying if they wanted someone small, and looking like a scrap of a child, why not ask Lily. Eddie said she was sure to botch everything up, her being only eight and all. I told him to go shove his head up his ass and he said he'd rather I do the same. That only shut me up because George had placed his hand over my mouth and asked if I would kindly allow him to go on with the rest of his "Master Plan".

Eddie was supposed to spread word among the Falcons about the whole situation and, in turn, make sure that Andy had no clue as to what was going on. George was in charge of refreshments and such. Before I even had a chance to open my mouth, he promised he would not bring stolen goods to his friend's birthday; it was bad karma.

Whatever that means.

Then they went over their plans one last time and both sauntered off, George telling me not to get into any trouble over his shoulder. This left me to my own devices. The first thing I did was bang my head against the wooden post of the stall a couple times, before emerging back into the street, looking for all the world like I did this sort of nonsense on a regular basis. The first thing I needed to do was go make myself look filthy.

---

Gabby caught me trying vainly to streak my face with half-frozen mud. Hearing footsteps, I looked up from my task and tried very hard not to cower under her piercing gaze. Positive that she was about to beat me to a pulp for even thinking to do something that stupid, I started to slowly edge away. Instead of grabbing me by my collar and demanding to know what I was thinking, she took one look at me and said, "One cannot disguise what one truly is under a mask of cosmetics, especially if their true soul shows so clearly through," before walking away in a swish of black skirts.

I went back into the house and hid under my covers for the next candlemark.

---

Rissa came up looking for one of the ribbons that she had gifted me with and nearly jumped out of her skin upon seeing me sitting on my mattress, coated in all sorts of filth. "By the Goddess! Arielle! You look like a disgusting little piece of turd. I cannot believe I am related to you," she sniffed, sounding for all the world like a snobbish noble lady, which I'm sure was her intent, and proceeded to shoo me out of the house. Sadly enough, I allowed myself to be chased out of the house, still shocked at Gabby's statement. She usually had this effect on people, but I had never experienced the real shock of having her piercing gaze directed at me and me only before.

Once outside, I wandered about, managing to get myself yelled at a couple of times for getting in other people's way. Finally, I found myself standing in the doorway of the Dancing Dove, still feeling a bit dazed. Nobody bothered to look up, and I had to remind myself what I was supposed to be doing. After trying to get the attention of the people in the common room and failing miserably, I decided I ought to go tell Solom what was up.

Being the crazy old man that he was, Solom took in the whole thing quite nicely and then loudly announced to everyone in the room, "My Lord Provost is going to have his men come search this place tomorrow, I suggest everyone find somewhere else to be, otherwise there might be some unwanted trouble." There was some grumbling, but seeing as how fast gossip spreads in the city, nobody thought this was too absurd. I thanked Solom and wandered back out into the street.

---

The sun had decided to come out that morning and I found myself weaving in and out of the crowds that had gathered around the stalls, Andy following in my wake. My breath came out as puffs of white steam in the crisp winter air and I allowed myself to pretend that I hadn't heard him asking me where on earth we were going over the cacophony of sound produced by bargainers trying to get the price they wanted.

George had told me he was going to entrust me with this simple task: make sure Andy got to the Dancing Dove. So I did as he'd said, indignant that he thought I wouldn't be able to accomplish this simple task without getting into trouble. When we finally reached the familiar doors of the tavern, I pushed Andy through the unlocked doors with a flourish.

Silence.

I blinked, and after a couple of moments, Andy turned around and looked at me, "What is going on?" I gave him a little shrug of my shoulders before pushing him aside and peering into the common room. It was completely empty, save for the two cloaks that were hung up on some of the pegs attached to the wall. There wasn't even a proper fire, only the charred blackness of a couple of logs still smoldering in the fireplace. I stepped in just as a gust of wind whistled through my ears and slammed the door shut. Now the room was almost completely dark, the shutters had been closed and the only light came from the tiny cracks between the shutter and the wall. There was definitely something wrong.

The second I had that thought, I heard booted footsteps making their way down the stairs. Not entirely sure what was going on, I backed into my twin, causing him to emit a startled cry. And then there was a heavy hand on my shoulder and a deep, commanding voice in my ear, "You are now under the custody of my Lord Provost, who wishes to question you on matters pertaining to a recent theft. Because of an absence of my Lord Provost, we, as his men, are permitted to question you in his stead. Now," he guided me to one of the chairs, "first, we need some light, and then you will tell me why this usually bustling business is so silent." I heard Andy drop down into a seat next to mine and cursed myself for not leaving when I knew something was wrong. George had never let me down before. "Don't move," my captor ordered as he moved towards the shutters. His companion went over to help him and Andy gave me a helpless look. "What-" he began, but was silenced when I gave him a look.

Apparently, my false warning about the search of the Dancing Dove had not been a false one at all. And now that I thought about it, George had said to take Andy here after lunch. I began to think this might be how Eddie feels most of the time, incredibly dim-witted. Since I wasn't of a mind to be questioned about something I knew nothing about, and I had a feeling Andy felt the same way, I grabbed his arm and sprinted for the door, shoving it open and disappearing into the crowded street before either of the men had a chance to react.

Or so I'd thought. I was taking in huge gulps of air and Andy was doing the same when we heard, "Hey you! Get back here!" Looking up, I saw the two men pushing through the crowds. I cursed and grabbed my twin's arm again. Being short did have its advantages, and I found I was able to weave in between people relatively easily. Ducking into a nearby alleyway, we ran headlong into Jayson and George, both of whom were holding a brown bag filled with what I presumed were sweets for the surprise party. "Whoa, Where's the fire?" George put out a restraining arm, which I nearly flipped over in my rush to get away.

"Gotta. Gotta run," I panted, "Lord Pro-Provost. Men."

"I turn my back and you get into trouble," he turned to Jayson, "What are we going to do with her?"

Jayson gave a sort of half-shrug and tugged on the silver hoop attached to his ear. I heard shouts a little too close for comfort and struggled, trying to get out of George's grasp. "Lemme go!"

"Could someone please do me the favor of telling me what is going on? I'm ushered to the Dancing Dove by my wayward twin, taken into my Lord Provost's custody, and then dragged through town. Because it's my birthday, I demand an explanation. Right now," Andy had escaped my grasp and was looking quite fierce. If he'd been a girl, I'm sure he would have had his hands on his hips, since he wasn't, he contented himself with blowing a wisp of hair out of his face glaring at us in something of a haughty manner.

George raised an eyebrow, comprehension dawning on his face. He gave me a feral grin and said, "Looks like your warning held more truth in it than I'd thought. You have really got to listen to my directions more often. Perhaps then you wouldn't get into all sorts of trouble. I bet Kyprioth would love you, you really ought to meet him sometime."

I gaped at him, not sure if I should maim him for life or just ignore his words. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of pounding footsteps and the shouts of the men who were so bent on chasing us down. George gave me a little shove, "Go on, Jayson and I'll be able to hold them for a while." I obeyed, though I vowed I was going to get him back for this. Andy yelled something in protest, but followed me deeper into the alley.

I heard some scuffling behind me and told Andy we'd better split up, otherwise we'd only lead them to the steps of out house. He grumbled but listened, turning left when we reached the road while to went right.

---

After nearly getting trampled by a frightened horse, knocking over the stall of an unfortunate man who happened to be selling large bolts of brightly-colored cloth, spraining my ankle on an unexpected patch of ice, and setting fire to an umbrella stand, I managed to lose my chasers.

I made my way back home, only to be accosted at the door by my very upset, very loud mother. Andy had made it back almost a full candlemark before I had, because he'd been lucky enough not to have been followed. I found him sulking in a corner; apparently my mother had given him the same treatment she'd given me upon seeing him at the door. I hadn't even been able to utter a single word of protest before being sent up to my room with no meals for the rest of the day. Andy received the same treatment.

We made our way up the ladder in a stony silence, him mad at me for totally ruining his birthday and me mad at just about everyone for thinking I was some sort of useless idiot whose sole purpose in life was to get into trouble. I was so upset that I didn't even bother to tell my sisters to go mind their own business as they gawked at us, Val with a little smile playing about her lips and Rissa looking as if I'd single handedly ruined her prospects of marriage.

Upon reaching our cramped room, we found our belongings, few in number as they were, scattered everywhere. It looked as if there had already been a search in our house. The first thing I did was pry off the bit of wood that covered up the hollow spot in the floor. I stuck my hand in the shallow hole and produced the wooden box that held my Raven Armory dagger. I closed my eyes and thanked the Goddess that it hadn't been found, because for some reason, I knew there would have been some trouble if it had.

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**A/N:** aight…. A bit weird, and not as amazing as I woulda liked it to be, but hey, we're getting moving-ish. Either way, I don't think I've updated so fast in a long time. Sad… I know. Still, be proud of me! And R&R everyone out there. Thanks a load to all who have, I luv ya! 


	6. Confinement

**Disclaimer: Only characters belonging to me are the Falcons and Arielle's family. The rest is Tamora Pierce's.**

**A/N: **I know it's been a loooong while, but try not to hate me too much. Hopefully if I'm extra good, I'll get something else in too before break is over. Who knows. Oh, and if any of you guys are old readers who actually stuck with me, erm, there have been some changes (esp names – I thought maybe I'd make them more Tortallian) that you might want to take note of. Major changes: Iris is now Irissa (aka Rissa), Katalina is now Katalynne (aka Lynne), and Victoria is now Valona (aka Val). Minor changes: Andy is still Andy but his real name is Andorielle, Lily is still Lily but her real name is Lilith, Ariel is now spelled Arielle and Jason is now spelled Jayson. That should be it. Okay, I'm making this longer than usual to make up for sucking at updating.

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Chapter 6 – Confinement 

I plucked at one of the numerous loose strings in my blanket and rolled over onto my back before breaking the silence and announcing that I was so bored even Mithros sprouting butterfly wings and learning how to juggle wouldn't amuse me.

Andy didn't so much as twitch. I think he was probably trying his very best to ignore my existence, which made me want to strangle him with the long beige thread I'd just pulled out of my blanket. Before I even finished that thought, I remembered that it was his birthday, after all, and as much as it was completely not my fault in the slightest, I had played a hand in ruining it.

So I rolled back over onto my stomach and got a face full of rough wooden floor.

I'd forgotten that the straw mattress wasn't particularly wide and had gone and rolled off it, creating a not-so-quiet thump and not quite managing to hold back a surprised yelp. My twin ignored my antics completely and continued staring at nothing.

Elspeth's face appeared in the doorway, a small line of concentration etched between her brows, and asked me if I could please keep it down, the kittens already had pneumonia as it was and didn't need some hooligan doing tribal dances upstairs.

I opened my mouth to tell her I couldn't care less if the kittens had nummynumma or whatever, in fact, if she was going to call me a hooligan, it wouldn't bother me if she came down with it herself. Then I remembered that she had given me a handsome, if underappreciated, birthday present and shut my mouth, effectively managing to ram my nose into the floor. Besides, it wasn't as if she would have heard my retort anyway, she was already on her way back down the ladder, probably thinking of how she was going to spell whatever disease the stupid stray blobs of fur had come down with so she could record it in the journal Andy and I had gotten her last year.

It was about then that I realized I still hadn't given Andy his present. So I, being the brilliant person that I was, pushed myself off the floor and literally vaulted out the window, ignoring the muffled protests of my brother who had finally decided to acknowledge me because I was ignoring Mother's orders. I'd been in the stuffy room for more than a candlemark, I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't go out. Besides, I was going to get the little fart his present. Why on earth was he complaining?

---

I found George leaning against a stall full of Midwinter trinkets, engaged in a heated argument with Eddie. Well, it was heated for Eddie in any case. George was simply throwing a snowball up and down while Eddie was stamping around and hollering about something. "I don't see how it's fair at all! I mean-"

I slipped in next to Jayson, who was standing to the side, tugging on his earlobe. "What's going on?" I asked.

He flashed me a smile and I almost wished I didn't like George half as much as I did, "Nobody knows."

"But somebody has got to know."

"Yes, sugar, but this is Eddie we're talking about."

I grinned, he had a point. Nobody really knew how Eddie's head worked. I hesitate to say brain, because honestly speaking, I'm not sure if he had one. He thought with his, well, with _that_. "Or maybe it's just because you don't have brains enough behind that silly face of yours to figure out," I teased.

"Well, little-miss-I-have-a-sister-who-can-read, if that's the case, why don't you find out and tell me?"

"Alright, fine. Watch me," I moved in closer.

"-that you get to do whatever you want to and I can't!" the redhead whacked the side of the stall, causing a pile of dried dates to wobble precariously and the owner of the stall to shriek in alarm.

I took a step backwards, not wanting to get hit as Eddie caught his breath again and started waving his arms though the air energetically. George, seeing me move out of the corner of his eye, looked over at me and grinned, still tossing the snowball into the air.

"It's not funny! What-"

I retreated to Jayson's vantage point and said somewhat superiorly, "Eddie's upset that he can't do what he wants."

"Sugar, that's only half of it."

Crossing my arms, I looked up at him, "Care to tell me the rest?"

He grinned again and I tried very hard not to melt into the ground, "I hate to burst you bubble, but that'll be for me to know and you to find out," he tapped me on the nose and went back to watching the scene between George and Eddie unfold with amusement.

I grumbled and debated with myself over whether of not I ought to threaten to beat the information out of him. Then I realized that he was probably testing my patience, the Goddess knows I had and still have slim to none. So I clamped my jaws together and tried very hard not to let my curiosity get the better of me.

George, apparently tired of listening to Eddie rant, finally cocked his arm and threw the snowball straight into his friend's face. The face full of cold snow shut him up immediately and I realized just how much quieter the street had suddenly become. Granted, it was far from silent, as the entirety of Corus was doing their Midwinter shopping, but it got quieter by comparison.

Eddie opened and closed his mouth several times before George spoke, "Look over there," he pointed a long finger towards me.

Surprisingly obedient, Eddie did as he was told and then flushed so red I thought his entire head was going to catch fire. Then, as suddenly as it had changed color to match his hair, his face regained its normal pale, freckled complexion and he sauntered over to where Jayson and I were standing. "Jayson," he nodded at the older boy who returned the gesture and then turned his attention to me. "Elle, darling, how are you on this fine, cold, grey, and utterly depressing day? I was beginning to sink into the utter depths of darkness and had been contemplating submitting myself to Ganiel, but am feeling much better now that you're here," he announced melodramatically and tried to sling an arm around my shoulder.

I batted his arm away, pretending to be upset, "Don't touch me."

He grinned his little impish grin and held up his hands, "Wouldn't dream of it."

I snorted, "Yeah. Right," and had to bite my lip so as not to grin back. The kid had an infectious smile.

"Why would I need to dream if I could do it in real life?" he moved to place his arm around my shoulder again.

"Eddie," George had decided to join the fray with a warning voice and an arm around my waist. Jayson noticed the gesture and winked at me, miming the pose of a lovestruck girl. I glowered back at him and wriggled a little in George's grasp, his fingers were resting lightly on the side of my stomach, where I was the most ticklish.

The accused scowled and failed miserably, especially since scowling wasn't in his nature and he didn't really know how to do it properly, so he changed gears and grinned instead. "Well," he said brightly, "I'm off to buy yours truly a nice present," with that, he executed a perfect cartwheel and jogged off.

"Bye, Eddie," I called after him.

He turned and waggled his fingers at me, almost flipping backwards over a large cart filled with what looked like rolls of wrapping paper.

"I should be going too," Jayson's soft, gravelly voice sounded in my ear.

I looked away from the blundering Eddie, who was apologizing profusely to the owner of the cart, and into Jayson's chest before remembering that I had to tilt my head up to look at him. "Okay," I poked him in the chest, "I don't want to see you until you feel like telling me what it is that you know and I need to find out. Now go away," I gave him a little shove.

"Until tomorrow," he tipped an imaginary hat my direction and tweaked my nose before clapping a hand on George's shoulder and whispering something into his ear.

Once Jayson walked out of earshot, I tugged on George's sleeve, demanding to know what he had just been told.

"Arielle," he said in a scolding tone, "you should know better, curiosity killed the cat."

I spun so I was facing him, "I'll have you know," I poked him in the chest much in the same way I had done with Jayson, "I am not a cAT." The last bit came out as a squeal because George had remembered my ticklishness and had decided to accost my sides instead of allowing me to wrest the information from him because I surely would have.

"Sorry," he let me go and looked around innocently, "my hands slipped."

I crossed my arms, "Uh huh."

"Like this," he reached out towards me, but I had anticipated this and ran off in the other direction, shrieking like a girl.

He chased me around for a little bit, but eventually caught up, having the advantage of longer legs. "Gotcha," he proclaimed and then pounced on me, knocking me face-first into a snowbank and before I even had a chance to catch my breath, he was tickling me again.

"Get…off…me," I managed between gasps and fits of laughter.

He stopped abruptly and rolled off the huge pile of snow, "Look, they did it again," he said, all innocence.

Breathing hard, I stood up and promptly sunk into the snow that was up to my knees. As hard as it was, I still crossed my arms and tried to look intimidating, wading through the snow until I reached the edge of the pile and broke free, scattering snow all over George's feet. "Because you did me a favor by holding onto Andy's gift for me," I began, "I'll forgive your wayward hands. But next time…" I trailed off, allowing him to imagine all sorts of horrors that I could instill on him.

He grinned even wider and didn't respond to my unvoiced threat.

"Speaking of which, that was why I came to find you. I need to give Andy his present."

"And here I was thinking you sneaked out to see me," he took my hand and began pulling me through the crowded streets.

"Aren't we a little stuck up?" I retorted, grinning my little crooked grin and twisting to avoid being trampled by a bay mare that was apparently protesting the large load her owner was placing on her back.

"Well shouldn't I be? Just a little?" he hollered over the voices of people haggling.

Thankful for the crush of people that kept him from looking at me, I allowed myself to blush and called back, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

His answer was lost in the sound of a high-pitched whinny, thundering hooves, and a frustrated scream; apparently the mare had managed to throw off the bundles and escaped in the opposite direction. Smart girl.

We reached the door to the Dancing Dove and walked in, only to be greeted by smoke and a noise louder than that out in the streets. George led me to a corner and told me to stay put and try not to get into any trouble before trotting off, presumably to find Solom.

I let my eyes wander around the room, watching two men, obviously drunk, climb up onto a table and begin singing and dancing. One of them, with a misplaced high-kick, hit one of the observers in the face and disappeared from view as the injured man pulled him down with a roar. 'Fingers was jumping around animatedly in a corner, looking for all the world like a very hung-over very overgrown rat. I rolled my eyes, only Mithros knew what he was doing and the god probably had little to no idea at that. A skinny hawk-like man sat in a high-backed chair by the fire and watched the goings-on, absentmindedly eating what looked like nuts from a wooden bowl that was being held at his side by a questionably-dressed woman. Someone bellowed for another mug and a serving-girl who wasn't much older than me and carrying a basket of flowers thunked two in front of his face, laughing the entire time. Then my eyes turned towards the counter and saw Solom talking to one of my Lord Provost's men who nodded and then turned and scanned the room. I instantly recognized him as one of the men who had been chasing me and Andy all around Corus and sank down onto the ground, hugging my knees and begging whatever god was listening not to let him see me.

George returned with Andy's gift wrapped in brown paper and nearly tripped over me. "By the Trickster! Arielle! What are you doing down there?"

I looked up and stood, thankful for once that I was so short; nobody would be able to see me over George's head. "My Lord Provost has one of his men in here," I told him as quietly as I could, "and he's one of the men that was chasing me this morning."

His eyebrows flew up to his hairline and he pushed me out the door and into the cold air. Once we were what he considered a safe distance away from the Dancing Dove, he pulled me into an alleyway and handed me the parcel.

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks George."

"You know," he placed a hand against the wall above my head and leaned on it, "you never can stay out of trouble, can you?"

"Can't you just say 'you're welcome' like any ordinary person?"

"I could, but I'm not exactly ordinary, am I? In fact, I think one would call me 'extra-ordinary'," he smirked.

I tried raising just one eyebrow at him and failed, so had to resort to raising both, "Or they could just call you 'stuck up,' it means the same thing."

His smirk got wider, "Why thank you for such a compliment."

I rolled my eyes at him and then remembered that I should be getting back home; I didn't want another ear-lashing from Mother today. "Anytime. I have to be getting back, I'm not even supposed to be out right now," I tried to slip out under his arm, but he moved it down, trapping me. "George."

"Arielle."

"Can you please let me go?"

He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on my nose, which I wrinkled in response. "Alright, run along now. We don't want you getting in any more trouble than you already are in," he gave me a shove and I stuck my tongue out at him before turning and hightailing it back home.

---

My mother was not happy.

Andy, still upset with me for ruining his birthday, had gone downstairs and informed my mother of what exactly had transpired almost immediately after I had made my escape out the window. My mother, in turn, had placed a chair directly in front of the door and waited for me to come home so she could explode in my face, which, I think she rather liked to do. So I was stuck with another moon of confinement while Andy was given my bag of Midwinter sweets.

This, of course, made me so upset I moved to throw Andy's present into the fire but jerked back when I remembered just how many silver nobles the thing had cost. So I tossed it into the floor and told him to have a nice birthday before making my way back up to our cramped little room.

There was silence downstairs for a long moment before I heard a chair scrape on the floor and the sound of ripping paper. I flopped backwards onto my mattress and closed my eyes, which fluttered open almost instantly when my twin crashed into the room. "Mithros," he whispered, "Arielle. How? Thank you."

I closed my eyes again.

"Arielle, I'm-I'm sorry," he moved over to my side and threw his arms around me and nearly suffocated me with a hug, so of course I had to reopen my eyes and tell him not to worry about it.

He went over and picked up his present again. It was a supple leather belt with holes almost all the way around so it could fit both the fattest count in Tortall and his own stick-like frame. Attached to the sides were pouches for and containing flint and steel pieces, a small grindstone, money, string, and just about any gadget a person could think up. There were two slits, one for a small dagger and the other for a larger throwing-knife (which I had gone out and bought) and finally, in a tiny drawstring bag, there lay a smooth, egg-shaped piece of tiger eye. He pulled it out and examined it quizzically, "What's this for?"

I took an identical stone out from underneath my shirt, where it hung on a long chain and told him that my stone would warm up and emit any feeling he sent through it to me. The mage I had bought it from had told me that one we got used to the "feel" of each other through the stone, we would even be able to send entire scenes and descriptions through. Andy looked at me with wide eyes and I told him to try it out. He held the stone in his fist and squeezed his eyes shut.

In the blink of any eye, I felt mine warm up and a wave of remorse and guilt washed over me. I looked over at Andy and without thinking, launched myself at him, bowling him over with a hug and breaking the connection. "Andy. I'm not even mad at you anymore, alright? Just give me my bag of sweets back and we'll call it even."

He grinned, "Alright."

"Hey," I had an idea, "If you make sure to send me fun when you're out, it won't even feel like I'm rotting in this blasted room."

"Hey. Maybe you're right," and he sent me the feeling of slipping and sliding across the pond and I almost fell flat on my face for the umpteenth time that day.

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**A/N: **okie pokie! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who stuck with this even though I haven't updated in like a year. R&R! you know I'll love you more if you do! D 


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